In the game of golf, "drivers" and "woods" are used when it is desired to hit the golf ball as far as possible. Usually a "driver" or 1 wood is used when the ball is hit from a tee and a 2, 3, 4, or 5 wood is used when the golf ball is on the fairway. Traditionally, clubs are constructed from wood. However, some woods are being cast in metal or composite material. The main advantage of such metal or composite clubs over woods constructed from wood, is that the physical qualities, such as weight, density and hardness, of the material used are more easily controlled. This gives the designer more shape and construction latitude and allows the clubs to be more uniformly made with less waste than wood. With wood, flaws can appear during the last manufacturing steps after substantial expense has been incurred.
Heel and toe weighting (that is providing extra material or auxiliary weights on the sides of a club about its striking surface or face), has been a popular expedient with putters and irons, golf clubs normally used when shorter but more accurate ball direction paths are desired. This is because the heel and toe weighting increases their moment of inertia or resistance against twisting. With less club twist, a miss-hit ball diverges less from the intended path. Heel and toe weighting also is appearing in metal and composite woods which, like wood woods, usually are uniformly weighted side to side with a sole plate on the underside thereof.
With clubs intended to hit a golf ball maximum distances such as drivers and other woods, there has been a continuous effort by club designers to provide clubs that transfer maximum energy into the golf ball at the instant of striking. One means is to increase the possible club head speed generated by the user by providing a club with less aerodynamic drag than traditional spoon-shaped clubs as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,392 by Clovis R. Duclos. However, from the results achievable from different clubs, it is clear that club head speed is only one of many factors that affect the maximum energy that can be transferred into a golf ball. Such factors that have been examined in the past include face hardness, center of gravity position, hosel length, shaft stiffness and shaft length. However, most of these factors interplay with a golfer's ability to control the club or are useful parameters for change only to a limited few, very strong or very athletic golfers. Therefore, there has been a need to provide a wood type golf club which can be used by ordinary golfers to increase their drive distance without requiring extraordinary golfing skill.